Dead and Gone?
by LuckyGenius
Summary: Rukia had a hero, long before Kaien, but he died trying to save her. Now she thinks he's gone for good, but things never turn out the way things are supposed to. Now her hero is back, with a whole lot of new friends to erase the stain that is Aizen...
1. An unexpected nap

**Lucky-sama: Hey guys! This is my latest fanfic! Right now Twin Foxes is on a hiatus and I'll be updating Team Demon later it'll be up by Wednesday if not Thursday!**

**Tensai-san:This is our ultimate creation! We have an ultimate cross-over here, we're jamming all of our favorite mangas/animes/games/stories/ect into this! And although this is a Naruto fanfic, Naruto himself won't be showing up until chapter 2 or 3!**

**Naruto: Why do I only show up in chapter 2?*pouts***

**Lucky-sama: *Evil voice*We're setting the mood brat, don't push your luck...**

**Tensai-san: Oh and for pairings, you can offer up suggestions as we go along here! Some characters have already been decided who they're gonna get paired up with so yeah!**

**Lucky-sama: R&R Enjoy our new fanfic!**

* * *

"Take a nap kid, I'll eat you last," Grand Fisher laughed before knocking Ichigo out.

Inside Ichigo's head...

"Ah, hello Ichigo! Would you care to join me for some tea?" a boy about the his age possibly a bit younger looked at him quizzically.

"What? I was fighting a minute ago! What the hell? Now I'm having tea?" Ichigo sat straight up.

"Who said you were having tea? You never did accept my offer," the boy poured some tea into a cup. He looked at Ichigo with that same look of question before giving him the cup.

Ichigo took it gently and let the frangance of expensive tea waft up his nose. Then he took a testing sip, "This is pretty good!"

"I know," the boy smirked and took a sip out of his own cup.

"Where am I?" Ichigo took another sip.

"In your mind of course," the boy looked at him blankly, "You don't reconize it?"

Ichigo looked around him, it was his house alright but when he looked out the window, words and a bunches of pictures flashed past, "This is my mind?"

"Yeah, you know what I have to deal with in here? Last week, a whole bunch of reminders crashed through the roof, I had to go shove them out and fix the roof," the boy grumbled.

"Uh..alright," since he had no idea what was going on, he played along, "Who are you?"

"I am Ikasu Ren, you may not have heard of me, but I'm sure Rukia has," Ikasu folded his arms.

"What are you doing in my head?" Ichigo raised his eyebrows.

"I am a shinigami who has fallen in battle, I don't know what happened exactly but somehow I got sealed into you," Ikasu narrowed his eyes.

"Wha-"

"No, stop this is no time for chit-chat anymore, if we stay like this any longer, then you're friends and family will be in danger," Ikasu got up and motioned for Ichigo to follow him.

"What are we doing?" Ichigo got up and followed the boy out onto a balcony.

"We need to eject you back into conciousness," Ikasu stated simply.

"I'm in no condition to fight!" Ichigo winced and held a hand to his ribs.

Ikasu cast a critical eye on him for a moment before speaking again, "I'm afraid I have to agree, you stay here, I'll go, watch how I fight, you may learn something,"

Ichigo nodded entusiastically as he could manage and sat on the balcony, watching as Ikasu vanished.

* * *

"Hey fishbreath! Yeah you, the one who has a butt for a face! Over here moron!" Ichigo/Ikasu yelled at the hollow. (AN: I'll say Ikasu so I don't mess you guys up)

"Why you? I'll eat you now!" Grand Fisher turned and charged back at him.

"Good luck with that, I don't taste very good," Ikasu sheathed the zanpakuto in his hand and held his hand out to the side.

"Fighting me barehanded now brat? Bring it!" Grand Fisher licked his lips hugrily and sent his hand out.

"Barehanded? You wish!" the hilt of a sword appeared in his hand, he raised it above his head as the sword continued to form. "Rise my partner Kokushibyou!"

A zanpatsu formed fully but instead of the usual katana form it was a zanbatou, but it was pointed. (AN: It looks like Kazuki's lance minus the design, but it still has the handle in the middle for all you Buso Renkin readers out there)

"It's huge, I feel like I've seen it somewhere though," Rukia gasped.

"Freeze!" Ikasu pointed Kokushibyou (AN: This name is too long, I'm shortening it to Koku) at Grand Fisher and watched amusingly as the hollow froze mid charge.

"Spiral Cutter!" Ikasu whipped around in a neat circle, Koku fully extended to the side.

Branches, leaves, dirt and rocks flew by in a great whirlwind surrounding him fully aimed for the hollow in front of him. There was a sudden pause as the debris flying around got too thick and there was zero visibilty. All that was heard was the unmistakable roar of pain and then...silence. The wind eventually died down and left a huge spot of destruction for all to see. Ikasu was standing in the middle of it all and leaning heavily on Koku.

"Damn, this body can't take so much spiritual power output," Ikasu cursed.

"Hey you okay Ichigo?" Rukia walked out of the trees, still shocked at the sudden display of power. (AN: Remember, Ikasu looks like Ichigo right now.)

"Hey Ichigo, Rukia's asking you a question, time to get out here," Ikasu ejected Ichigo back into the world of conciousness.

When Ikasu vanished, as did Koku, and since Ichigo was leaning on Koku, he fell over promptly. "Weakling," Ikasu's voice resounded in his head.

"What did you do now?" Rukia leaned over and look him in the eye.

Ichigo tried to speak but he found out he couldn't, he struggled to get up, but his body wouldn't respond at all. In short, he was completely paralyzed.

"What's wrong with you?" Rukia shook Ichigo vigorously.

"I'm coming out bro, you're gonna get killed at the rate you're going," Ikasu snorted.

There was a small whoosh, and Ichigo felt like a heavy weight was being lifted off of him. He looked up to see Ikasu standing there beside him.

"Yo," he whistled cheerfully.

"A spirit," Rukia narrowed her eyes.

"Now, now is that any way to treat someone who saved you butt from being kicked?" Ikasu frowned.

"Ichigo, just do the soul burial and let's go," Rukia helped the orange haired temporary shinigami to his feet.

"I wish you wouldn't be so hasty, perhaps this ought to jog your memory?" Ikasu reached into his shirt and brought something out.

In his hands, a chain gleamed in the sunlight, at the end of the chain was a tarnished silver ring.

" You-!" Rukia started.

_Flashback_

_"Vastorode Menos Grande eh? Hey you! Ya you! The one with the creepy nose! I have a question! How long does it take to clean your nose?" Ikasu yelled up at the hollow._

_"Incomptent brat, I'll eat you after my little snack," the hollow sneered._

_"Waa! I don't want to die! Help me!" a voice cried._

_"?" Ikasu raised his eyebrows, there in the Menos' hands was a little girl, her face streaked with tears._

_"Help!" she screamed again._

_"Koku, I'm going into extreme mode," Ikasu began charging up spiritual power._

_"Extreme mode? I want to see this," the Menos looked on patiently._

_"Flare!" he yelled. _

_The power that surrounded him solidified and began taking shape, slowly bit by bit, a samurai stood before the hollow. It was so big, that it crushed the smaller hollows around its feet. The samurai stared down coldly at the smaller hollow._

_"Pitiful," the hollow shook his head and lashed out with a claw but only found it blocked by the samurai's katana. A fist barrelled downwards and __Menos howled in pain. It fired up a cero (AN: zero, sero? I dunno so I'm gonna say cero) effectively dropping the girl. Ikasu leapt out of inside the samurai and caught the girl just as his creation was destroyed._

_He leapt off to the side where he placed the girl out of harms way,"Stay here, and don't move, some other people will come and get you," 'She can see me, she's already too far gone,'Ikasu thought while he forced a smile._

_"Wait! Here, a good luck charm," the girl timidly stuck out a chain with a ring around it._

_Ikasu looked like he was going to refuse but he smiled gently and took the chain, "I'll wear it forever and always, that's a promise! And I don't break promises!" _

_The girl blushed and watched sadly as he took off, she was all alone again..._

_"I don't have a choice here," Ikasu looked at the scene sadly._

_"This is it, my trap, lure and death, it's been planned out," Ikasu knelt on the ground and unsheathed Koku._

_He then leapt over the hollow's head and stood, floating in mid-air. "Hell's Fury!" this was his ultimate attack, it could destroy anything when he was at full power, but right now...he was at about a quarter power. The attack sped on to the oblivious hollow and by the time it realized what was happening it was to late._

_"Great! Last time!" Ikasu knelt down and wiped a trickle of blood on his arm, "Shinigami-sama," _

_"Hm? What is it my faithful disciple?" the true death god stood in front of him._

_"Shinigami-sensei-sama, your disciple has brought to you a hollow, Vastorode Menos Grande, I believe he wishes to repent for his wrong-doings," Ikasu bowed humbly before his sensei._

_"I would like another disciple, but I'll need to fix that nose of his," Shinigami thought carefully._

_"You'll need him to replace me anyways," Ikasu mumbled._

_The Death God looked at him sadly before continuing, "Ah right, this is your last time, I'm sorry my student,"_

_"Don't worry *cough* it was my honour and duty to be the student of two great masters," Ikasu wiped the blood from his mouth._

_"Now if you please," Shinigami prepared his knife and sharpened it to satisfaction._

_Ikasu staggered to his feet without another word and held his hands out, "SHINIGAMI'S DIVINE PUNISHMENT!!!" there was a flash of blue as the remainder of his spiritual energy charged towards the Menos._

_The hollow, feeling fear for the first time, fired off point blank zeroes at Ikasu, in which all of them connected._

_"Goodbye my student, may you never have to feel this pain again," Shinigami murmured, it's head bowed in prayer._

_From the side, the little girl watched helplessly as her hero fell to the ground, his face completely devoid of emotion, never to rise or fight again._

_Flashback End_

"You-you kept your promise!" Rukia stared at him sadly, tears threatening to fall any second.

"I did," Ikasu looked at her calmly.

The two stared at each other, soft, teary colbalt ones immersed in cold, hard silver ones. The tension in the air so thick that you could cut it with a butter knife. In the midst all of this the ring glinted softly in the sun, it's chain clenched tightly in Ikasu's hand as if he never ever wanted to let go again.

* * *

**Lucky-sama: There's the new chapter!**

**Tensai-san: Yep, remember, some pairings are still undecided! You can still give us suggestions!**

**Lucky-sama: R&R please! The more reviews, the more motivated I am to write and the faster the updates! (This goes for all of my fanfics)**

**Tensai-san: Until next time! Tensai-san and Lucky-sama out!**


	2. New Blade

**Lucky-sama: My newest chapter is up as promised!**

**Tensai-san:Yep yep, Team Demon will be updated twice sometime next week, so there won't be an update during the week of Christmas.**

**Lucky-sama:As for New Years, I don't know if we'll update then or if we'll do a double the week after that so stay tuned!**

**Tensai-san: Uh-huh, this story's new chapter will be coming out sometime next week as well!**

**Lucky-sama: We won't do weekly updates on this story but we'll focus more on Team Demon cause we have more readers over there.**

**Tensai-san: And thank-you to Tuesday,(formerly known as Yume-chan) and Hounds_of_Hell for their reviews!**

**Lucky-sama: Thank you for pointing out my mistakes in chapter one Hound-san, I'm working on fixing them right now!**

**Tensai-san: Enought chit-chat, Lucky-sama and myself, Tensai san, does not own any of the animes or manga or ect. shown here, we only own this story plot and our OC's!**

**Lucky-sama: On with the chapter!**

* * *

"I have things to do, schedules to run, places to go to, I'm not gonna just sit here all day," Ikasu stared right back at Rukia unblinkingly causing her to flinch and look away.

"How do you feel Ichigo?" Ikasu turned his head towards the orange haired boy suddenly.

"I feel like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders,"Ichigo shrugged ad tried to stand but collapsed immeadietly sending Rukia running to his side.

"Why am I so weak?" Ichigo's soul was returned to his normal body.

"That's because I'm no longer in you therefore, my spiritual power does not reside within you and you have less power," Koku appeared in Ikasu's hand.

"WHAT?" Ichigo got up, leaning on Rukia heavily who was struggling to hold him up, his hands curled into fists.

"You heard me, because I have left, you have become weaker than ever," Ikasu drew a lazy circle with Koku in the air. The air shimmered where Koku traced, leaving little trails of blue.

"Get down you oaf!" Rukia tackled Ichigo as a portal opened.

"I'm going to go visit my old sensei, see you, good luck fighting hollows in your current state!" Ikasu grinned and stepped into the portal.

"Stick your sword in there and keep it open!" Rukia whacked Ichigo over his already sore head.

"Alright, alright!" Ichigo stuck his zanpakuto into the portal and the portal strained to close but couldn't due to the ibsatcle keeping it open, "Now what?"

"We go in after him, he's your source of power, without him, you'll barely be able to fight! If he won't come back, he'll have to train you to a point where you can actually fight like you normally could," Rukia pulled the in temporary shinigami after her.

* * *

A young boy about the age of five ran down the street crying, his sun kissed hair was messy and unruly, bruises covered his arms and legs. "Why? Why do they always do this to me?!"

"So you're sensei's new student huh kid?" a certain boy ran a hand through his own unruly raven hair as he watched from a building. He had found the kid running and was planning to just swoop down, pick him off the street and vanish without a trace. Then there were complications, the boy was being chased by a mob, there were too many villagers around which meant many witnesses, there were ANBU stationed everywhere. He continued watching the kid's every move from his spot, not moving an inch, he could see pretty well from where he was until...the kid turned a corner and into his spot's blind spot.

"Shit! This is screwed," Ikasu grumbled as he tried to find the kid in the street below, "where the hell is he now?"

"Don't hurt me please!" Ikasu looked over the side of the building he stood on and saw a mob had cornered the boy into an alleyway.

"No way demon," one of the villagers hefted his club.

"This is gonna be messy," Ikasu groaned as he forced enough spiritual power out to make him solid and seeable to normal humans.

"Die demon!" the club swung down but Naruto saw it in slow motion, arching towards his head until...a blade came out of nowhere and sliced the club in half neatly.

"I don't tolerate child abuse," Ikasu shook his head like one would if you caught a child with their hand in the cookie jar before dinner.

The villager backed off, scared of the serrated monstrosity of a blade Koku had transformed into. Several ANBU dropped out of hiding and gripped their weapons.

"Back off morons," Ikasu snarled and brought Koku down in a slicing motion in front of him. The masks immeadietly chipped and their weapons fell to the ground useless.

"Call for back up, he might be an S-rank criminal!" one of the ANBU ordered and one of them vanished.

"Criminal am I? Can you catch what you can't see?" Ikasu let some of the power in his legs absorb back into him making them invisible to the ANBU.

"What are you?" one of them gasped.

"Calm down, it's just a genjutsu," one of the others snapped.

"Genjutsu is it? Well your back up is here, gotta run see ya!" with that Ikasu promptly grabbed Naruto and vanished with a simple shunshin.

"Spread out! Don't let him escape!" The orders split the night as the ANBU sped off, hunting for their prey.

* * *

"Don't hurt me mister!" Naruto curled up as sobs racked his fragile body.

"Like I would hurt my sensei's student," Ikasu scoffed.

"Your sensei-? Watch out mister! Behind you!" Naruto pointed a quavering finger behind him.

"Wha-? Hollows, they're here too huh? Stay behind me!" Ikasu ordered and Naruto scrambled to do so.

"Let's go wild Koku!" Ikasu ran his tongue over his sharp canines, a trait he had gotten from his sensei.

Koku promptly grew longer and transformed into a double ended spear. Ikasu simple ran forwards, arms thrown back, a wild look in his eyes. The hollow tried to stomp on Ikasu but found out the hard way that people don't like being squished when its foot was sliced off.

"Helicopter Koku!" Ikasu leapt up towards the hollow's head and whirled the spear above his head like a helicopter's rotors. The blades dug into the hollow and sliced its head off in several quick spins. "Great workout!" Ikasu exclaimed as he landed, neatly tucking Koku aside.

"What was that mister?" Naruto tugged on Ikasu's pant leg.

"You can see them huh kid?" Ikasu ruffled Naruto's hair.

"Yes, they're as plain as day!" Naruto growled indignantly.

Ikasu crouched down so he could look Naruto right in the eye, "Those are hollows, they eat souls, I'm a shinigami, it's my job to kill them, got it kid?"

"Yes sir!" Naruto gave a mock salute.

"Do you want to destroy these hollows?" Ikasu asked him seriously.

"That I do," Naruto's face darkened instantly like he had experienced them before.

"I'll teach you kid, you've got potential," Ikasu returned to his normal smiling face and picked Naruto up, "now how about we get you cleaned up? Oi need some new clothes and a bath too, ugh," Ikasu wrinkled his nose as he placed Naruto on his shoulders.

"Sure nii-san!" Naruto giggled madly, amazed at the view when you were so tall.

* * *

"Damn, where are they?" Rukia scanned the horizon from atop the building they were on. All around her, villagers milled about, going on with their dail business, completely oblivious to what was going on. Frowning, she turned her attention to the setting sun, watching as the last few rays of sunlight was fading. But then, out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted a fading blue trail. It formed when spiritual power was used contantly. It led down to the village gates and onto the path beyond.

"Shit, they've left the village, let's get going," Rukia dragged her partner down the path and dashed towards the village gates, their hopes of returning back to their own world lay in the hands of a certain dead shinigami.

* * *

"How's that sould cutter coming along?" Ikasu rubbed his hair dry with a towel.

They had reached a wealthy village in the middle of a festival and settled in one of the inns there. As soon as Naruto was out of the shower, he was taught how to use spiritual power and form his own soul cutter. Ikasu believed strongly that the sooner you have a zanpakuto, the more time you had to bond with it, the more you got to understand it, the better you know what your limits were and how to train.

"Nothing!" Naruto banged his fists on the ground in frustration.

"You're putting a hell too much power you idiot," Ikasu whacked Naruto over the head with his towel.

"How would I know how much power I should put in?" Naruto snapped as he continued to steadily push out spiritual power.

"At the rate you're going, you'll make a hammer or a soul smasher not a sould cutter you dope!" Ikasu stabbed into the bubble of spiritual power with his hand and the bubble burst.

"That took me along time to make!" Naruto glared at him.

"You have a ton of time kid," Ikasu slipped on his robe and sandals.

"Meanie!" Naruto pouted and started up another bubble.

Ikasu watched him intently for a while before stepping in, "No, imagine a sword, one that can cut through anything, it's sharp and long. Tell it what do you want it to do? Why are you fighting?" he whispered softly.

Naruto twitched, his brow furrowed in concentration. "I fight to protect, I fight for freedom, most of all I FIGHT FOR MY DREAM!" The power in his hands grew longer, as if responding to his words. It slowly formed a small replica of a shield, then a sword and then it simply swirled around.

'He didn't say he wanted power or reconition, you've chosen an interesting student sensei,' Ikasu noted mentally as he watched.

Bit by bit, a blade started taking shape, it had a ring on the end so it could be twirled like a kunai but it was longer. When it grew to about half an arm's length, it stopped growing adbruptly and dropped to the ground with a clang. The blade was still short and small yes, but it still was pretty good for a five year old. It looked like a minature katana with the ring on the end.

"Nice blade kiddo," Ikasu lifted the blade up by the ring.

"That's mine?" Naruto jerked up in surprise.

"Yes, take good care of it," Ikasu threw the blade lightly at him.

"Ahh! You don't throw swords!" Naruto screamed and ran off, letting the knife hit the ground.

"A blade won't harm their master or partner," Ikasu sighed and scooped the knife of the ground, "a blade will only do what they think is good for you, now don't drop the knife even if it turns into a snake or I'll take the knife away and give you a hammer,"

Naruto sheepishly took his weapon from his sensei, "Gomen,"

"Sooner or later you'll learn your blade's name, when you do, you'll become much powerfuller," Ikasu rubbed the kid's hair fondly, "Now let's go get a sheath for that thing!"

"Hai! Let's go!" Naruto leapt up, his knife held in his hand.

'I swear to protect you,' the thought seem to radiate from the knife but Naruto dissmissed the thought, thinking it was his imagination. It could have been...or was it?

* * *

**Lucky-sama: There you go!**

**Tensai-san: By the way, we have a poll up on our profile so please vote!**

**Lucky-sama: Oh and Tuesday, yes people can request other animes/mangas/ ect to be in this, we'll try to incorporate as many as we can but we can't have all these new requests screwing around with our plot too much.**

**Tensai-san: The pairing here is still undecided, for some characters so pleaze, ideas and suggestions for the pairing would be mush needed!**

**Lucky-sama: R&R!**


	3. Meeting Sensei

**Lucky-sama: Sorry about the late update, my laptop crashed on me and I had to retype the enitre thing on another computer. **

**Tensai-san: And next chapter for Team Demon might come out later on today or not at all depending on the time we have.**

**Lucky-sama: I still haven't finished my X-mas shopping yet so I'm in big trouble right now.**

**Tensai-san: And a little Christmas surprise for everyone! The first reviewer will get a fanfiction specially written by us on a pairing of their choice! And if we get 5 reviews, we'll reveal what on of the pairings is in the nex****t chapter!**

**Lucky-sama: Enough talk, on with the chapter! **

**Tensai-san: Merry X-mas! (Santa is a stalker, if you agree with me, post Santa is a stalker on your profile, I think Santa's in cahoots with the government, the government is watching you always...dun dun dun...)**"Your sheath," Ikasu tossed a package to Naruto.

* * *

Naruto watched as the packaged spun heads over heels and landed neatly in his hands. Without wasting another moment, he ripped off the brown paper covering it, revealing a metal sheath and a black strap so it could be carried. Silently, he slipped his zanpakuto inside the sheath and swung it over his shoulder. Then he tightened the strap so it wouldn't come off.

"All set kid?" Ikasu held up their bags which were filled with their stuff.

"Hai!" Naruto grunted as he shouldered his own bag.

"Let's move!" Ikasu grinned and leapt out the window with Naruto following close behind.

While they were waiting for the sheath to be made, Ikasu had taught Naruto how to walk on walls and stuff. It took Naruto several tries to get it right and now he was proficient in the skill.

They leapt through forests, fields of grass and plains of sand. Many times, they hid in the crowd of merchants heading down the path in order to avoid any trouble. At times, they thought they had been found out by some nin on guard but they kept their act up and passed through without much trouble. After they had crossed the border and into the Snow country did they stop.

"Where are we going?" Naruto shivered dispite the fact he had a cloak on.

"If I remember correctly, there should be-" Ikasu stopped adbruptly which caused Naruto to crash into him.

"What's wrong?" Naruto demanded crossly as he he dusted himself off.

"Home sweet home," Ikasu grinned as he strode off towards a heap of snow.

"Home? Don't tell me we're making an igloo! HEY! Wait up dammit!" Naruto struggled to catch up with Ikasu's long strides. At about halfway, Ikasu seemed to glide over the snow and left no footprints even though his foot sank through. Curious, Naruto tried putting chakra into his feet and walk like Ikasu did. Instead, he simply stood on top of the snow, he didn't sink in like Ikasu did. Shaking his head, he made a mental note to ask his sensei about it later.

"It's still here!" Ikasu waved his hand and the snow flew in many directions revealing a modest sized house buried underneath it.

"How-" Naruto was cut off as Ikasu promptly kicked down the front door and dragged him in.

Ikasu immeadietly wandered off into the depths of the house, lost in old memories. Grumbling, Naruto begrudgedly placed the door back in it's proper spot. Then he turned and for the first time he took a real look at his surroundings. An oak dining table sat in the middle of the floor, several chairs sat around it loosely. The kitchen was sparkling clean, and everything was in the proper spot. Naruto wheeled around and turned his attention to the fridge and the pantry.

He took a deep breath and pulled the pantry open. Inside was food, tons of it, canned food was neatly stacked and stored away on the shelves. On the floor, there was a box that caught Naruto's eye, it was labelled, INSTANT RAMEN AND OTHER NOODLES!! His eyes widened and he immeadietly slammed the pantry door shut. "Must not go crazy, must not go crazy," he chanted to himself.

After he had calmed down he crept over to the fridge, wondering if he ought to be scared or not, he took another deep breath and pulled the door open. Inside was fresh vegetables, eggs and milk and whatever else you would find in a normal person's fridge. Naruto reached out and lifted a jug of milk to make sure it was real and not some illusion his sensei had put there. Gingerly, he unscrewed the cap of the jug and took a testing sniff. It smelled normal, his nose told him. But not wanting to believe his nose, he brought the jug to his mouth and drained the entire jug in one go. "It's good," Naruto declared as he chucked the jug into the waste.

"Yo-What did you do?" Ikasu raised his eyebrows.

"I drank milk," Naruto replied nonchalantly.

"You grew more like," Ikasu walked up to him and stared him in the eye without bending over.

"Woah," Naruto breathed as he looked down at himself for the first time. He had grown as soon as he drank that milk, and now his shorts were way to short and his T-shirt was always too big for him so it was a little too tight. "What did you put in that milk?"

"Nothing, it's just you, it's just...I'll explain after we get you some clothes that fit," Ikasu sighed and led the way into the hallway.

He flung open a door and pulled open the closet. A mesh T-shirt, some black pants with a white stripe running down the side of each pant-leg, a dark blue sweater with a trailof orange running across the chest and sleeves were thrown at Naruto. Naruto hastily put it on and tossed aside his old clothes.

"Now answer me, why did I grow?" Naruto demanded after the hetic change was done.

"It'll be better if you met sensei face to face," Ikasu sighed and tapped Naruto on the head which caused him to black out.

* * *

"Hello kit," a loud voice rumbled in Naruto's ears. Groggily, he sat up and stared around him in shock.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Your mind," Ikasu came into view.

"My mind?" Naruto repeated dumbly.

"Yes your mind, can you not understand what he said? Or is your mental capacity so low that it takes a moment to process what we just said? Perhaps, we, need, to, speak, slower," the last few words were exaggerated and slowed down.

"Who?" Naruto whipped around, only to come face to face with some bars and a giant fox staring down on him.

"I'm Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon," Kyuubi lowered his head so his head rested on the floor.

"Kyuubi? I thought the Yondaime killed him!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Listen kid, the Yondaime was a master of seals and sealing," Ikasu hinted and examined his fingernails, bored.

"Sealing? Oh-he sealed Kyuubi into me!" Naruto exclaimed in realisation, it took a moment to sink in, "He sealed the Kyuubi into me?!"

"Tough life kid, don't think your the only one, there are many out there who have other demons contained in them, me included, their lives may have been better than your's or worse, it doesn't matter, you all walk the same road basically," Ikasu shrugged.

"You included, so which demon do you have?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Kyuubi no Kitsune," Ikasu replied simply.

"But I have the Kyuubi! How can you have him if I have him?" Naruto demanded.

"I don't have the Kyuubi, I had, I've released him along time ago," Ikasu sat down lazily.

"How do you release?" Naruto scratched his head.

"There are two ways," Ikasu held up two fingers, "One, you either get the demon forcibly extracted from your soul, but there's a 99% of dying or you die and you choose to release the demon at that time,"

"Meaning?"

"I'm dead,"

"WHAT?" Naruto stood up adbruptly, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE DEAD?"

"In order for me to release the Kyuubi, I have to be dead, only then can I release," Ikasu tapped his fingers together.

"If you're dead, then how can you be around?" Naruto pointed out.

"I'm no, I _was _a shinigami,"

"What's a shine-game?" Naruto struggled to pronounce the name.

"When you die, you either pass on peacefully to the next world, or you stay in your world as a ghost, a harmless ghost that does your everyday ghost thing. There's something called the chain of fate, it binds you're soul to your body, when it's cut, you die. But the chain of fate is where your heart is, if the chain drops away, you'll have a hole in your chest and then you become a hollow. Now hollows eat human souls and other spirits, they are extremely dangerous. It's a shinigami's job to get rid of hollows and any spirits who have lingered for the chance they may become a hollow in the future," Ikasu let the information sink in.

"Oh," Naruto thought about it, "What do you mean, you _were_ a shinigami?" Naruto prodded.

"I died in a battle against a hollow as a shinigami," Ikasu stated blandly.

"You died again? How do you die twice and keep coming back?!" Naruto clutched his head, his brain trying to process this insane information.

"I dunno, it's fate? Destiny? Luck? There's a loophole in death?" Ikasu suggested.

"You're insane," Naruto muttered.

"Yes I'm insane, anyways, you can chat with sensei later, right now we're going back," Ikasu dragged Naruto over to a wall and drew a circle in mid-air. The circle shimmered and widened, forming a portal. "See ya sensei!" an they were gone.

* * *

**Lucky-sama: There's your next chapter!  
**

**Tensai-san: Merry Christmas and see you in 2009!**

**Lucky-sama: Remember to review for your special gift!**


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